


Love and Gladiators

by ChickInRed



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Ancient Rome, Blood and Gore, Everyone is taller then Raphael, Gladiators, M/M, Sex, Slaves, Smol Raphael, Swearing, everyone else loves it, he hates it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:01:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29600070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChickInRed/pseuds/ChickInRed
Summary: Living as a slave is hard, fighting as a gladiator is even harder, a fact that Raphael is about to learn the hard way.Inspired by NeatTea
Comments: 30
Kudos: 30





	1. Ch. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning!!!  
> This fic is heavily inspired by the HBO series Sparticus. (not the plot, just the world they created) Meaning there will be swearing, violence and gory fights. LOTS OF SWEARING AND GORY FIGHTS.  
> This fic will also NOT be historically accurate though I will do my best to keep it as close as possible.  
> You have been warned about the swearing.

Art done by the amazing Neattea!!!

The gentle wash of the sea against shore filled the air as waves rolled against cream-colored sand, the sun sinking and staining the world a beautiful array of red, pink, and burgundy.

The air smelled of salt, seaweed, and the faint harsh scent of decay from the occasional washed-up fish.

It was one of ancient Rome’s treasures, a beautiful, peaceful place.

“Don’t look back!”

“No shit!”

Well, at least it was beautiful.

The thundering of hooves drowned out the crash of two figures as they barreled down shrubby hills towards the ocean. One was human, the other, a shorter mutant turtle.

They hit the sand, the human stumbling while the turtle kept going.

“Don’t you dare fall and make me turn around!” snarled the turtle, only to slip in the sand and stumbled himself. He struggled to stay upright, floundering a bit as the human caught up.

“Don’t you make _me_ turn around!” the human countered, “Just get your ass in the sea and swim!”

The horses behind them were closing in, their riders shouting encouragement. Neither dared look back, the water growing closer. They were almost there, so close to freedom they could taste it, when something whizzed through the air, striking the turtle around the ankles.

He yelped as whatever it was whipped around them, tripping him and sending him smashing face first into the sand.

“Raphael!”

Coughing out a mouthful of grit the turtle flipped onto his carapace with a curse. He grabbed at whatever it was now wrapped around his feet and hurriedly untangled it.

His friend appeared, grabbing his arm and ripping him upright, but it was too late.

The horses and their riders were upon them.

Raphael glared in defiance as the horses thundered up, frothing from their lips as much as the men who rode them.

He knew they couldn’t fight them, a harsh lesson they’d learned once before and bairly escaped, and his friend seemed to agree.

Soundlessly the human attempted to pull him back and continue running, but there was no running anymore, and Raphael raised his fists.

“Grab’em!” One of the riders shouted and a massive well-armored man launched from their animals back, slamming into the pair before they could make one final attempt for the sea.

Raphael shoved his friend aside right before the man hit him, and rolled with the impact, swinging his fist and connecting with the human’s helmet; but the human was not swayed. The bastard barely budged.

The rider snorted and snapped Raphael’s arm in his own before he could deliver another blow and trapped it there, his knee coming up to pin against the turtles plastron and twisted Raphael’s arm so hard it cracked.

“Fuck!” Raph snarled. He gritted his teeth and tried to swing his free arm and buck the stupid fuck off, but he might as well have been the human’s damn horse; he wasn’t going anywhere.

A boot flew out of nowhere and slammed into the side of Raphael’s head, reminding him that there was more than one rider. Stars popped before his eyes, but he continued to struggle, swinging his fist at anything that moved.

The man twisting his arm grunted and swore as Raph landed a blow below his armor and bent his arm so hard it nearly popped from its socket.

Raphael screamed in pain as his arm was ripped and tried to buck harder.

“Will you collar this scrawny fucking thing already!” snarled the man atop him, and at his call, a rough hand grabbed Raphael’s neck and shoved his head into the sand.

“No! Damnit!” Raphael choked. He tried to punch again but someone grabbed his good arm and forced it still. He kicked and struggled despite the pain as his freedom was stolen in the form of a thin metal collar that slipped cold around his neck, and closed tight against his emerald skin.

“Give it life already!” the man twisting his arm snapped.

“Fuck y-“ Raphael tried to spit, only to jerk as pain seared through him. Every muscle clenched and every nerve screamed as waves of agony he’d never felt before burned through his neck.

It seemed to go on forever, only to abruptly end.

Black and white stars popped before his eyes as he lay panting into sand, only vaguely aware of the fact that his arms were now free and limp beside him.

The pain came again, radiating from the metal ring around his neck in fresh hot waves, only to end and start again, and again, his screeches sounding over the rumble of the ocean, until everything went black. He could still feel pain, could still hear the sounds of his own screams, until even that faided away into nothing.

He didn’t know how long he was out, only that he was. His hearing returned first, the gentle sound of hooves against the earth reaching him, followed next by the putrid stench of blood, piss, and shit.

His head was lolling, he registered that next, his arms trapped above his head and his legs stuck together. A few seconds later and he realized why. His wrists and ankles had been chained.

“Hey…” Someone grunted. “You alive?”

Ever so slowly, Raphael lifted his head, his whole-body aching.

“It lives.” the same person chuckled.

It took him a few seconds more but eventually he recognized the voice.

“Casey?” he grunted, lifting his head further.

Stars swam before his eyes, but gradually he found his scraggly black-haired companion chained up on the other side of what looked like a wooden cart.

His left eye was swollen shut with blood crusted along the right side of his face. His lip was busted, and there were sand and a bit of moss tangled in his already tangled black hair. He was covered in bruises, the crappy shirt he’d been wearing gone to reveal his thin battered chest.

“You look like shit.” Raphael grunted.

His friend, chained and bruised, managed to still throw his head back and laughed, “Speak for yourself you-“

“Will you both shut up?” growled another, and Raphael turned his head, finding an elderly human beside him, covered in bruises and blood, and a mutant grey cat man chained up in the back of the small cart looking just as battered.

“Oh fuck off…” Raphael grunted, only to be silenced by a loud banging from the top of the cart.

“Oie, shut it!” Someone snarled.

“You shut it!” he snarled without thinking, and beeps went off, making Raphael freeze.

He silenced to late as his neck erupted with pain.

The chains kept him still as his body jerked and muscles twitched, his teeth mashing together as he fought through the fire that burned from the collar around his neck.

Then, just as quickly as it came, it stopped.

Raphael went limp in his chains, gasping for air as stars popped before his eyes once more.

“One more fucking word and that’s the end of you!” the same someone snarled.

“Was that the turtle?” another someone asked. “Fucking little things got a mouth. Who’d it run from?”

The first one let out a harsh laugh. “Caserious!”

“Wait, the child trader?”

“Ei, the turtle and that skinny Thracian.”

“But they aren’t children?”

“Not anymore no. They were sold at five for the turtle and seven for the boy. They escaped shortly after sale. Once they were lost past the years of interest they were sold to Glodious the seed trader. Then to Silvarous of the mines when they proved too difficult to capture.”

“Really? How long were they running?”

Despite the pain, Raphael couldn't help but smirk, for he knew the answer.

“Fourteen years.”

“Fuck me, are you serious!?”

“Yes. Damn things always swam out to sea before any of men could grab’em. Drowned nearly seven slave trackers trying to catch’em.”

The man beside Raphael shifted, and Raph saw him out of the corner of his eye, watching him with an eyebrow raised.

“With that record I doubt the'll be worth much.” The one continued, “After runnin so long the turtle’s stunted and scrwny and the boy’s a skinny mule. No one’ll pay more than half a bronze for the pair.”

“I know. The boy’ll be nailed to a pillar and whipped until he dies as a warning to others. The turtle, mine meat.”

Raphael glanced at Casey, finding his friend listening with his eyes closed.

Death. That was what awaited them. It was something they’d known since the day they ran when Raphael was but five years old, and Casey seven.

His friend’s eyes opened as the men driving the carriage laughed, and locked with Raphael’s.

“Was it worth it?” the old human grunted, “Running all your life just to end up here?”

Raphael smirked again despite the knot in his stomach. “You ran to.” He murmured.

This time it wasn’t the man who replied, but the mutant.

His feline muzzle wrinkled, exposing broken teeth, and growled, “You’d still be trying to run if you knew what your fate truly meant.”

He lifted his chin, showing more of the metal collar that all enslaved mutants were forced to wear.

“You turtle will be chained by your neck to three others.” He growled, “Forced to work, day and night, sleeping for a mere hour at a time, fed only enough to keep you alive as you work your fingers to the bone. The weakest of the mines are murdered and eaten to keep up strength, and unless you sever the head from its corpse, you’ll drag them around until they rot away.”

The mutant chuckled and said softly.

“Then when you’re half dead and no longer useful, they’ll drag you off and sell you to Asians as a delicacy; where you’ll be boiled alive and eaten, your shell sold to fortune tellers as a way to see the future. As for you two-“ He nodded to Casey and the elderly man, “You’ll beg for his death by the time they’re done with you.”

The old human hung his head while Casey snorted, all of them listening wether they wanted to or not as the cat whispered.

“You’ll be forced to stand in the slave markets center, whipped again and again until the sun can touch bone. They’ll feed you, give you drink, and then every day flay a chunk of skin from your flesh. The birds will come and peck at your wounds, ripping chunks of meat from you as you piss and shit yourselves. Every single day. Yet they won't let you die. You’ll be a warning to other slaves not to run as you beg for death, even try not to eat or drink, but they’ll force it down your throat before they let you slip into the hands of the gods so easily.

A shiver ran down Raphael’s spine as he turned and found his friend. Casey looked far paler than before, and though the idiot would rather die than admit it, he looked frightened. Fuck it, they both were. They always were.

It was the curse of being a slave… Always afraid, always wondering if the day would be their last. But what Raphael feared wasn’t the death that awaited them, but the separation soon to come from the only family he had left. Pain, suffering, death… he’d find a way to suffer through it all if only his brother stood by his side.

Knowing that he wouldn’t be there… That alone was far more terrifying a reality than anything else the cat had said.

“Thanks.” Casey grunted, “Great bedside manner. Wana share with the cart what your fate will be?”

The cat snorted at him. “I’m unique. Sought after.” He looked down at his blood and dirt caked fur and smiled almost sadly, “But I’m also old, thin, and weak. My back can no longer carry the weight of my master’s orders. So here I sit in transport to the market, to be sold to a fur trader who will crush my skull, skin me, sell my meat and bones to savages and turn my hide into a rug for some wealthy roman cunts to fuck their whores on.”

This time it was Raphael who snorted. “Fun.” He chuckled, “Even in death your old ass gets some. Stop complaining.”

The cat’s ears flattened and he hissed, “Of course you’d think such a thing as luck. You turtle’s only fuck other turtles, any chance at being touched even in death would excite your reptilian ass, wouldn’t it?”

The elderly man between them chuckled, “He’s young. With how rare turtles like him are I doubt he’s ever been touched. The thought of being ridden on in death must make his legs quiver like a vergin bitch about to be bred.”

Raphael’s cheeks tinged pink, his pride wounding quickly and snapped, “I hope they miss when they bludgeon you cat…” then scowled back at his friend.

Casey was smirking, his lips pursed shut as though struggling not to say a word. Or laugh. The fucking asshole…

As he glared, he felt the cart come to a slow but steady halt, a few voices outside conversing, but he paid them no mind. He didn’t give a shit what those damn slave traders were up to until something slammed into the cart so hard it shook.

“Come now my friend, it was a simple misunderstanding.” came the nervous voice of one of the traders and Raphael began to listen, “I didn’t realize you needed it so soon. Look, come find me at the market tomorrow and I’ll have-”

“Now Disegro.” A new voice rumbled, “Your debts are to be paid in full, now, or have it be taken from your ass!”

Something hit the side of the cart again, followed by a choking sound.

Raphael turned in his chains but couldn't see through the cart slats.

“O-of course. My friend.” The man choked, “I only t-thought you wanted denari. But i-if you wish. I have three prospects for the arena that may interest you. They were to fetch me quite the coin.”

“Three?” the new voice asked, sounding board, and the cart driver squealed.

“Four! There’s four! Two mutants, two men.”

“Well now we're getting somewhere.” The new man laughed, “Open the cart, let’s see these supposed prospects.”

The cart driver started gasping as though finally being allowed to breathe right as someone began lifting the heavy wooden plank that held the carts door in place.

A flap of cloth shifted, a bit of light shining through the slats of the cart before the door was ripped open.

Two muscular guards moved out of the way, revealing a man, a decently dressed roman from the look of him, and a thick muscled, orange-haired dog mutant, with wild pointed fangs standing at his side.

“T-the cat is no good as a gladiator.” Choked the cart driver and he, along with another appeared, one holding his throat while the other looked on anxiously. “Its back is near ready to break. I’d planned to sell it as a pelt, one that I’m sure would bring you plenty of denari or-“

The man holding his throat gestured to the well clothed man and said quickly, “- you can add it to your home! It may look rough now, but I assure it, there are exotic striped and spots beneath the grime!”

As he looked back at the clean man, the group absorbed with themselves and nothing more, Raphael heard a faint whisper.

“My fate is sealed, as is his, but you two are young. Do what the Master commands of you, and you may not only live, but remain together.”

His eyes widened and he met Casey's only good eye. His human brother looking just as surprised.

“Alright, bring them out. Let us see these gladiator prospects and the rug.” Called the clean man, and the guards began to move.

Raphael looked at Casey again and then over at the cat, its golden eyes gleaming at the both of them as though trying to will them to take his words to heart and listen to him.

The chains rattled, and Raph’s arms dropped to his lap just as Casey’s did before jerking and dragging them both to their feet. They were dragged from the cart out into the pre-dawns light, him first, Casey next, the elderly man after him, and then finally the cat.

Their ankles and arms remained heavy with chains, stealing any chance of escape. A fact not lost to Raphael as he stood still beside his brother, looking up into the face of the man now surveying him like a thing.

He wore a tunic, one of colored, clean cloth instead of a filthy mud brown one like the men who drove the cart. His eyes, visible even in such poor light, were cold and as dark as his hair.

There were several guards as well as the furry orange dog man around him, all of them with their hands on their swords as though expecting trouble.

Past them, he could see a city in the distance, the stone and plaster houses barely brimming with the life of light. There was a stone road, olive trees, crappy looking homes and fields with goats and sheep. While nearby, lay what looked like a ready to be built building with thick chunks of stone half forming a wall, with piles of rock ready to be used around its base.

The man turned, walking past him, Casey, the elderly slave, and paused at the cat.

“A rug?” he laughed, “Look at it, it’s covered in blood. Its hide is worth nothing so full of holes.”

“No, no, you misunderstand.”

The cart driver and the other slave trader moved quickly into view.

“This was one of Malexu’s men.”

“The meat trader?” the new man asked.

“Yes, yes exactly. This slave hauled carcasses for butcher and slaughtered on command. He is matted with their blood not his own.”

The clean man nodded, reaching out to poke and prod the cats fur as though checking a curtain for tears.

“Hmm…” he murmured, “I’ll take the cat. As for the others-“ the man waved almost dismissively as he turned his back to them, “-you offer piss. An elder ready to drop and two skinny fucking children.”

If Raphael didn’t know any better he swore the cart driver paled even more.

“No no, nonsense. Proper feed and training and you’ll see them rise with valor, pouring coin into your pocket with wins from the arena! Come Gangrus, give them chance!”

“Chance you say?”

The clean man laughed and turned back to Raphael and the others, “Fine then, unchain them and we shall give them, ‘chance.’”

Raphael’s eyes widened, his head snapping around to look at an equally shocked Casey, checking to be sure he hadn't misheard.

“B-but…” the cart driver stammered only to be screamed at.

“Did I fucking stutter?”

That was enough to make the two cart drivers move. The cat mutant was dragged off by the guards while the pair made quick work, unlocking the chains one by one until Raphael, Casey, and the elder stood stunned in the middle of the stone road with nothing but wrist and ankle shackles free of chains.

“What the fuck is happening?” Raph heard the elder whisper.

Casey on the other hand, remained silent, and so did Raph. It was more than clear that something was not right, and thankfully his human brother sensed it as well and was watching the men around him as carefully as Raphael was.

Being on run for as long as they had, had its advantages. They could see things that others could not. Like the tensing of muscles, a hand inching towards a blade while eyes flicked to one another as though insuring a plan. It was well before signs like these that they usually ran…

The clean man waved to his orange dog companion. “Come now slaves, lets see how you fare against a true gladiator.”

Yup. They were in danger. In danger and more than likely about to die.

The muscles on the mutant twitched, and with lightning speed it charged straight for them, its teeth flashing as its jaws gaped.

Without thinking Raphael dove out of the way despite his aching body, his heart seizing as his brain caught up to reflex and remembered his friend. He rolled and looked back only to sigh in relief as Casey danced out of the mutants way, but the elder did not.

He stood there and screamed, a gasp the last sound he made before the monster's teeth crunched into his face.

Blood poured from the dog’s teeth like rain from a roof, a crackling sound coming from the mutant as he dug his thick claws into the old man's shirtless body.

 _‘Weapon!’_ Raphael thought, the word trapped on repeat as he scrambled across the road.

He could hear the guards laughing over the crunch of bone and ripping of flesh while Gangrus yelled at someone, no doubt the cart drivers.

Casey appeared at his side and flanked him, swallowing hard and trying to look brave, but Raphael could smell his fear. Fuck, he could smell his own.

The dog ripped what was left of the man’s skull clean from his shoulders and shattered the remains between his jaws before twisting his claws and cracking the elders ribs, ripping them out in a gush of blood and gut before tossing the body aside.  
The mutant spun on its clawed feet, its eyes narrowing in on them and launched, its bloody jaws gaping again.

“Fuck!” Casey yelped and Raphael scrambled, the pair diving out of the way, barely avoiding snapping teeth for a second time.

This time Raphael stumbled and nearly lost his footing, but had enough sense to stay upright as he dove behind the bairly built wall with Casey right behind him.

The beast merely laughed, “Come now little snacks, I thought you were meant to be gladiators!”

Raphael barely had time to think as he grabbed the closest thing to his hand, right as an ugly vicious head loomed over the top of the little wall and lunged at Casey's head.

With a raging yell Raphael raised a misshapen rock, right as Casey swung around with a melon-sized stone gripped in both hands. As Raphael's rock came down, Casey lodged the rock into the mouth of the lunging beast.

It choked in surprise, half hanging over the wall and tried to pull its head back, one clawed hand supporting it while the other slashed at the pair.

Claws racked Raphael’s shell right as he drove his rock down, smashing it into the hairy mutants' muzzle.

Teeth broke on impact and blood flew into the air. He smashed it again, and again, and again, his motions moving on reflex as he hammered the rock into every bit of the creature’s skull he could.

Another rock joined his, grasped by bloody fingers that slammed between every strike of his own, giving the dog no chance to rise away from the marker until blood became brain.

Someone was shouting, but Raphael barely heard them, a loud ringing in his ears as he made sure the dog would never rise again. It wasn’t until rough hands grabbed him and ripped him back that he even remembered someone else was there.

He struggled on reflex, swinging his elbow back and slamming it into something soft when his collar beeped and his neck erupted with pain.

Raphael jerked, his body convulsing as white-hot agony worse than anything he’d felt that day seared through him.

It ended abruptly, sending him into a gasping heap against the earth.

“What did I tell you!?” the cart keeper cheered from somewhere, “Fucking gladiators! Bloodthirsty, ready to kill and line your pockets!”

He couldn’t see more then stars or smell more then blood, but he could sense someone else on the ground beside him, and he only hoped it was Casey.

“Fuck!” Gangrus screamed, “You fucking piss! This was no more than luck and you know it! Beat them both until their eyes pop with blood!”

Raphael closed his eyes and cringed, waiting for the first blow, when he heard rather than felt the hit.

Squeals and yelps sounded as blow after blow filled the air.

“Not only am I going to take these two.” Snarled Gangrus, “But you’re going to pay me what you owe plus the cost of my dead gladiator by tomorrow's end or have my entire fucking guard track you down and end your miserable pathetic lives! Fuck!”

He sounded angry, more than angry.

Only when Raphael was ripped from the ground did he dare open his eyes. The stars had gone, but he realized he was shaking, his body covered in blood.

Red was everywhere as was tissue, bits of orange hair clinging to it, and chunks of fleshy bone that covered him from bare head to toe.

“You fucking cunts.”

Raphael looked up from himself in time to see Gangrus, his hand pulled back into a fist that slammed into Raphael’s side.

He choked and coughed on impact, the men holding him the only thing keeping him upright as he was punched again in his breastbone.

The man must’ve known or owned a turtle at some point, for most humans would’ve punched his gut and broken their hand in the process.

As he gasped and struggled for air, Raphael heard Casey yelp and cough shortly after as he was punched next.

“That wasn’t even a fight!” The human snarled, “It barely lasted a moment of breath, fuck me! Put them, the body, and the cat in the cart. We’ll take it as well and leave these two to piss and moan the rest of the way into Capua. Maybe the horses will be of worth.”

Still gasping Raphael was dragged and forced to move, Gangrus still snarling as he and then Casey were thrown back into the foul-smelling cart.

“I am now your Master you skinny little fucks, and you now fight for the honor of my house. Disobey or dishonor my home, and I’ll see your cocks removed faster than you were able to bash my man's skull in.”

It was the joys of being a slave. A fact Raphael hated as he pealed his face up from what smelled like shit that was caked into the bottom of the cart.


	2. Ch. 2

Raphael had landed in shit. He was certain of it. Yet the disgusting muck across his face was the least of his concern as he, Casey and the cat, sat scrunched in the back of the wooden cart with a corpse at their feet.

The cart jostled, and the body moved, sending all three of them flinching into the wood.

Mutants like him were a funny thing. They could be beaten and rise, could regrow limbs and rise, be beheaded and regrow their head then rise, or in this case, be bludgeoned and somehow still rise. It wasn’t something that happened very often, but it was often enough that it had all three of them nervously watching for any sign of life. 

It was a while before anyone dared speak, the cart filling with a faint light as dawn broke and the sun began its crawl into the sky.

Raphael had no idea where they were headed, the cart blocking him from viewing the world and the stench clotting his nose, but his ears, those worked just fine.

Voices chattered outside, the sounds of a market painting a picture of an active city, not a town but a city.

They were in Capua, they had to be.

After a long quiet moment, it was Casey who finally broke the silence. 

“Well.” He murmured, rattling the chains around his wrists, “Today went from bad, to worse, to shit fucked in a matter of hours now didn’t it?”

Raphael nodded, his three fingered hands rubbing at where the cuffs were cutting into his wrists, yet refused to take his green eyes off the dog’s smashed in skull, “You can say that again.”

“Have those be the last of your words.” Whispered the cat, flinching as the cart shook again and the body jiggled, “You need not jinx us all and see this fucker rise.”

Now that was something Raphael could agree with.

“Alright then,” he said softly, “change of topic. Do you know anything about our new Master?”

The cat nodded. “Yes, Gangrus Assadius. He runs a ludus near the center of Capua. A small one with very few prospects. My previous Master often referred to him as an ass licker. Gaining favor in games by bribe or paying the Arena Master directly.”

Raph grunted, “That explains why he was so eager for denari.” 

Again the cat nodded. “Precisely. No one wants to see an idiot fight. What you fought was known in the arena as Beast of sands. It’s a title that complements how many times he ended up on his back, his life spared only by the grace of the Arena Master.”

Raphael felt Casey lean forward, and glanced at him, finding his uninjured blue eye wide and stunned, “Wait, so that was a loser?” 

“A frequent one.” The cat replied, “Though he’s won enough fights to line the Master’s pocket with coin, earning him enough worth to infuriate the Master with his demise.” 

Casey made a face and leaned back out of view, the chains rattling some as he fidgeted with them.

“So were to take his place then.” Whispered Raphael, “We have to fight and kill now, is that it?”

“Fuck me…” Casey groaned, his head thunking against the cart.

“Just do what you’re told.” The cat murmured, “Listen well, train hard and win every fight. The Master will favor you for the coin you bring him. Continue to do so and you’ll both live for as long as the Arena favors you.”

For the first time, Raphael looked away from the corpse and turned to better face the cat.

“Why does it feel like you are helping us somehow?” he questioned, “What do you have to gain?” 

“Gain?” The cat repeated, turning as well to face Raphael with a gleaming pair of golden eyes, “Helping?” He chuckled, “You boys excel in areas that have kept you alive and free, that much is clear, but common sense appears to be lacking. I merely offer suggestion as my life may be over, but yours are not.”

The cart came to a crawl, the horses snorting and pawing at the sands. Voices still chattered around them, the occasional bray of a donkey and cluck of chickens giving the impression that they were still in the market, until the man known as Gangrus let out a snarl.

“Am I not the Master of this fucking house!? When I arrive, you open the fucking gate!”

Soon after a creaking filled the air and the cart began to move, the clip clop of hooves once again returning, though the _‘Master’_ did not stop yelling.

He swore at everyone he passed, a smashing sound filling the air every now and then. 

“Someone fucking fetch Maximus!” he screamed at one point, and the cart began to slow even further. The sound of metal creaked, heavy doors groaning over it, followed by the sounds of clashing wood and thumping of hammers.

Cautious as always, Raphael sniffed, testing the air for any sign of what was to greet them on the other side.

“What do you smell?” he heard Casey whisper, but Raphael shook his head.

“Nothing.” He said truthfully, “All I smell is shit and, well-“ he gestured to the dead dog and the gelatinous hunks of coagulated blood that had slid from its crushed in skull.

Casey looked anxiously at the wall, trying to peer through one of the gaps in the wood with his one good eye, “Shit…” he breathed, “I hate not knowing what’s coming. That’s what fucked us to begin with.”

Unable to help it Raph snorted, “I told you not to trust that whore. She wore way too much scented oil for someone worth so little. I should've known she was just trying to hide the hunter's smell.”

The cat must’ve felt the same for he to snorted only to catch himself, “Wait, you were caught because of a whore?”

“A cheap one.” Raphael corrected and his human brother promptly spluttered.

“Wha- no! We did not get caught because of the whore.”

“Yes we did.”

“No, we didn’t.” Casey snapped, whipping around and shoving a filthy finger in Raph’s face, “She promised food, not a fuck and last I checked you were drooling over the thought of sinking your teeth into fucking melons you ass!”

Raphael raised an eyeridge and smirked, “I admit to drooling over food. So why do you deny drooling over cunt?” Then promptly ducked as the human swung to cuff him in the head.

He snickered and grinned, only to glance at the cat, and falter. 

The elder was listening, his ears pricked and golden eyes troubled. He’d almost forgotten that the old cat was destined to die…

He opened his mouth, knowing he should say something, maybe thank him to make him feel like he’d done some good, when he sensed something off and stilled. 

All sound had ceased from outside, the clacking and hammering gone to be replaced by gentle footfalls and soft murmurs. 

As always, Casey took his cue from him and fell quiet as well, shifting into a wary position in his seat while his blue eye fixed on the cart door.

“Maximus!” The Master snarled. “Maxi- Fucking finally! When I call you fucking appear!”

“Yes Dominus.” 

Raphael nearly jumped out of his shell as a deep rumble sounded right beside the cart. He hadn’t smelled them, hadn’t heard them, yet they were right on the other side, and that bothered him greatly.

“Get some men to haul a fucking body, Beast has joined the Gods and needs to be put to rest.”

The murmuring grew louder, a few feet scuffling around the cart and shifting around the horses as more men moved.

“The slave traders?” the deep voice asked, “How-“ Only for the Master to scream.

“No! Even worse. Fucking slaves, two skinny fucks who now need to stand as fucking gladiators in his place!”

The cart shook and the wooden plank that held the door in place shifted and was removed.

“Oh crap…” Casey groaned, and the door swung open filling the cart with light.

All three of them flinched, their hands coming up to shield their eyes.

“Out with you!” the deep voice rumbled, and the chains around his wrists jerked.

Raphael’s heart leapt into his throat as he was ripped straight out of his seat towards the corpse. 

He danced around it, still wary the corpse may yet rise, and promptly slipped in a globed-up chunk of blood.

With a yelp Raphael caught himself before he fell, only to be jerked again and sent tumbling out the door. He crashed into hot sand and his wrists jerked again as whoever held his chains ripped him back upright, digging the cuffs into his already wounded wrists.

“On your feet!” a voice snarled, another one he didn’t recognize, “You will stand before your Dominus!” 

Doing to his best to force his eyes to adjust Raphael struggled to obey, knowing that if he didn’t he’d end up shocked again.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Yet another snapped. “That’s what bested the Beast? A child and a half-starved ape?”

“Hey!” Raph snarled before he could stop himself, only to choke as something hard slammed into his plastron.

He doubled over, fighting to breathe but this time refused to fall.

“I’m…not… a fucking kid… asshole.” He wheezed out, and focused hard on whatever or whoever it was before him.

It was a man, a humongous black skinned human with muscles as thick as his shell. He was scowling at him, or maybe he was just staring, Raphael could not tell, for the upper part of the hulking human’s lip was nothing but a mangled mess of scar tissue. 

He wore heavy leather armor across his most vital parts, his hands gloved, and feet covered, with a strange glowing white and blue cuff on his left arm.

The human touched it and a warning beep sounded from Raphael’s neck. 

Raph fell silent, refusing to flinch and waited for the pain. Only, it never came.

“I told them to fight and prove their worth,” the Master replied, “I had to wrestle the mutant’s commander from Desegro just to get the turtle to stop.”

The hulking man looked Raphael up and down, then glanced beside him. 

“You, boy. How many years are you?”

“Twenty-one.” Raph heard Casey grunt, and the man turned back to Raphael. “And you, child?”

“Nineteen.” He growled, only for the human’s eyes to widen in surprise. 

The black man paced back and forth for a moment looking their bloody and battered forms up and down before shaking his head. 

“Nothing but praise better come from your lips!” Gangrus hissed, but the human either had a death wish or just didn’t care.

“The turtle should be half the size, they’re both malnourished, lacking muscle, yet…they defeated Beast. A gladiator with fang and teeth.” 

The massive human turned, facing the cart, and this time Raphael looked as well, only to freeze.

What he’d heard hadn’t been hammers, but the clashing of wooden swords and shields from about nine humans as thickly muscled as the man before him, and two other mutants with teeth and   
claws like the monster they’d barely beaten. 

They were scantily dressed, and like Casey wore only simple coverings around their waist and feet, while the Mutants, like Raphael, wore a loincloth around their midriff and a collar, but nothing more.

They were all larger than he and Casey, and appeared stronger and fiercer looking than the men they’d been running from all their lives. 

The ‘Master’ stood before them all, with the cat on his knees in the dirt beside the cart.

_‘Oh shit…’_ Raphael swallowed hard, taking in unclimbable walls with only one way in and out; one iron gate and a heavy wooden door beyond it with guards standing everywhere around them.

There was no getting out…at least, not alive.

“It’ll take time.” The man continued, “Maybe in a few months if Ajal doesn’t-“

The Master’s face twisted into a scowl, “You have weeks!” he snapped, “Beast was to fight as entertainment before the Primus. I have no one else the Arena Master favors and trust to let live should they fall.” 

A few of the humans shifted uneasily, glancing at Raphael and Casey as though expecting trouble, a fact that sent a smirk to Raphael’s lips.

“Weeks?” The other continued, “Apologies Dominus, but the chances of them being ready in weeks is-“

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN DEAD!?” 

Both Raphael and Casey jumped as a greyish green spikey shell came hurtling around the carriage and lunged for the carts open door.

It was a turtle. Or, mostly a turtle, for it had feathers sprouting from its arms like short stubby wings, with a shell, clawed hands, feet, and a tail like a turtle. 

Its beak, a mix of a bird and reptile, sniffed cautiously at the corpse before it spun, revealing furious dark eyes that fixed intently on Raphael.

“You.” It hissed, “You did this!” Then sprinted.

The armored man reacted quickly, lunging to stop the mutant, only to miss. “Ajal!” He roared, a wild beeping following, and even though the mutants neck crackled with life, it slowed but did not stop.

Raphael stumbled back, tripping over his still chained ankles and could only watch in horror as the monster came at him, its beak snapping open to crunch his face in two; when his feet lifted from the ground and the world went sideways.

It took him a moment to realize what had happened, for one moment he was standing with a mutant about to maul him, and the next he was dangling in the air by his loincloth with said mutant picking itself up from the sand.

Casey was on the ground as well, staring up at him, no, past him with his jaw gaping like an idiot.

“Ajal,” warned a voice, a hint of a growl hidden within it, “find your senses or find your head removed.”

Raphael looked down, finding a three fingered hand grasped around the back of his loincloth, one that stretched down a bulging leather-bound bicep to its armored owner.

Holding him, was a turtle. A six-foot tall, muscular beast covered in scars with cobalt blue marking above burning blue eyes that were fixed on the mutant still kneeling on the ground. 

This turtle was not dressed like him or the other mutants, but more like the snaggle lipped man who had first addressed the Master. 

He wore thick leather platted armor down one arm, the leather layered like scales from his shoulder to his elbow. Leather straps held it in place, stretching across a rippling plastron that appeared more chest than shell. 

Raphael’s eyes widened as he followed the chiseled and scared up chest down to leather clad hips and thick leather-bound calves. 

_‘Oh shell.’_

The giant turtle made no move to drop him and instead looked to the Master. 

“May I offer suggestion?” And only when Gangrus nodded did he continue, “The Arena Master found Beasts constant failures humorous and his wins grotesque enough to keep him entertained. Perhaps after explanation as to Beasts demise,” he raised Raphael a little higher and jiggled him to catch the Master’s eye, “without mention that it was these two who felled him of course, otherwise I fear the Arena Master may not be forgiving. Offer replacement with this one-” 

The larger turtle promptly used Raphael to point at Casey, who’s jaw managed to snap shut as he forced himself not to smirk. 

“-and this one.” Continued the turtle.

Raphael scowled, glaring at Casey and then back at the blue marked asshole who didn’t seem bothered in the least bit.

“Offer still in training recruits for hilarity, request they be given the chance to live and ask they be pitted against a creature, or others of equal training.”

The Master looked at the larger turtle with interest, an eyebrow cocked as though impressed. 

“I like it.” Gangrus grunted, then threw a hand in the air, revealing a blue and white ruined bracelet like the one the dark-skinned human wore. “Guards, remove Beast, have him prepared for ceremony. And Ajal…”

The mutant feathered turtle twitched at the name, its collar still crackling and fists still gripping the ground.

“Help them with Beast. Then get over here and bludgeon this cat.”

The creature's collar went lifeless, and with its end the mutant finally growled and rose from the sand.

“You, Leonardo.” The Master continued, and he tossed what looked like a metal key which the turtle caught easily in his free hand. “I expect you to see them cleaned then to the Medicus. You are to train them and see that they stay alive. If the Arena Master favors your idea, then you’ll be rewarded. As for you Ajal, I forbid you to kill either of them.”

The turtle holding Raphael nodded while the one known as Ajal, whipped red glowing eyes onto Raphael and then Casey, seemingly ignoring his Master, only to pause and cast a nervous glance up onto the giant turtle. 

It was only then that he finally submitted. “Yes Dominus.” before moving, head bowed to the cart. 

The turtle, Leonardo, waited only until the feathered turtles spiked shell was turned and his attention on the corpse, before he dared move. Only, he didn’t put Raphael down. 

Instead, he grasped the chains that still held Raphael and Casey and with a firm yank, wrapped the loose ends around his wrist. Though instead of moving, the turtle paused, chains in one hand, Raphael still held in the air in the other.

“Dominus.” He called, and Raph saw the Master’s head tilt, then nod, allowing him to speak.

“If I may offer a final thought. The hide of your cat may end up fetching more worth if you groom it, clean it, and feed it until its fat. As is, soiled, thin and filthy, it won’t fetch much.”

Once more the Master seemed to think, his eyebrows furrowing as he contemplated quite heavily.

Realizing that there was a chance that the elderly mutant might actually live, Raphael held his breath, and from the look of it, so did the cat.

After what felt like an eternity, the Master finally nodded.

“Fair point.” Then turned, gesturing to the cat, “Guards, remove it. Get it fed, cleaned and then set it to work cleaning floors or something. The rest of you, back to training!”

Raphael released the breath he’d been holding and closed his eyes in relief. 

“Up.” He heard the turtle command, and he opened his eyes.

Casey had remained on his knees, glancing at Raphael still dangling like a doll, then back at Leonardo as he waited for him to set Raph down. 

The turtle however didn’t ask twice.

With one firm yank, Casey was jerked up, stumbling a little as Leonardo forced him to follow. 

“Hey!” Raphael snapped when it became clear the turtle was not about to release him. “Do I look like a cripple!? Let me go!”

The turtle ignored him, and instead cocked his head, glancing at Raphael out of the corner of a blue eye, and smirked.

Shell did that piss Raph off. That smug bastard.

His temper flared and Raphael began to kick and wriggle as much as the chains would allow, attempting to force Leonardo to drop him, but this turtle’s muscles weren’t just for show, and they carried him without pause down a short flame lit hall lined with iron-barred cells.

“Put. Me. Down!” Raphael snapped as they turned into a room at the end of the hall, only to yelp in surprise as Leonardo complied and dropped him in a knee-high pool of water.

“Oh my.” A strange voice laughed, “It appears the mighty Leonardo’s found himself a toy.” 

Raph spluttered and ripped upright, his chained hands balling into fists as he readied for a fight. Though as he gasped and looked around, he found anything but.

His human brother was at the pools edge right beside him, his focus on the massive turtle who had turned his shell to them. Though they weren’t the only ones in the room. There were two others, two reptilian scaled mutants on the other side of the room in a pool of their own, who seemed far more interested in one another than in fighting.

One of them giggled, a forked tongue slipping from its lips to glide up its companions black and white striped neck.

“Please say you’re going to play with him?” the black and white lizard begged, its limbs and tail entwining with its darker scaled companion as it tilted its neck to give a wandering tongue more room.

Raphael stiffened, “I’m not a- no!” he spluttered and looked to Casey for support, but the human didn’t seem to be paying him or them any mind. He was still watching Leonardo, who was collecting something from a shelf on the wall. 

Finally, Casey looked back at him, confusion on his face. “Dude.” He whispered, “Is that what you’re supposed to look like?” 

Raphael’s face fell into a scowl, his eyes narrowing as his patience faded along with what energy he had left. “Fuck you Casey.”

Movement caught his eye and he realized Leonardo was walking back to them, a key in one hand, the chains no longer in the other.

He paused at Casey and unlocked his cuffs one by one.

“Let me be clear.” Leonardo sighed, sounding almost bored, “If you leave my sight or go where you're warned not to, Ajal will track you down and kill you without hesitation.”

“B-but the Master-“ Casey started, only to be cut off by the dark scaled lizard who was still focused on licking his lover's neck.

“Accidents happen.” He cooed, “Especially when you’ve killed Ajal’s brother.”

Raphael raised an eyeridge, “Brother?” only to have his view blocked by a plastron.

“They weren’t related.” 

Once again, Raphael found himself staring at the other turtle’s chest, a rippling body of pure muscle but a touch away.

_‘Don’t look down.’_ He said to himself, _‘Do NOT look down.’_ his cheeks tinging pink as the much larger turtle reached out and grabbed Raphael’s wrists, dwarfing them in his foreign three fingered grip.

Trying his best to look intimidating, Raph puffed himself up as much as he could and ignored the strange new urge to inspect every part of this new turtle.

One by one his shackles fell, freeing his wrists when the other turtle squatted and reached into the water for Raphael’s ankles.

The large hand graced his calf and Raphael’s cheeks went from pink to burning red, the heat growing only worse as the turtle’s fingers ghosted the skin on the back of his leg.

Finding himself oddly focused on the sensation, he touched the wounds on his wrists and hissed at the sting it caused.

“You best mind Leonardo.” The black and white striped lizard whispered, “He is the only one the gladiators truly fear.”

Raph snorted, relieved as Leonardo finally stood and left with the chains. 

“Yeah right.” He grunted, and thankfully Casey seemed to agree. 

Please,” his brother snapped, “you should’ve seen the way those cowards looked at us when they learned we killed Beast.” only for the pair to giggle.

Both lizard mutants turned, fixing blue and red eyes on them. 

“It wasn’t you they cringed from.” The dark one laughed, 

“It was Leonardo,” the white striped one chuckled, “as he snuck up behind you without a hint of notice. Sniffing out your turtle friend no doubt.”

The turtle reappeared and gave the lizards a cold stare, “Alb, Negru.” He warned, only to send them into another giggling fit.

“Ignore the Tegus.” He murmured, and he held out a long thin tool to Casey and then another to Raphael, “Now both of you, strip.”

Raphael was staring at the tool in confusion as Leonardo gave the order, and it took him a moment to register what he'd been told.

The color returned to Raphael’s face faster than he thought possible, only to intensify when Leonardo turned his sights onto him.

“Once you’re done turtle, I want you to turn and show me your shell.”

Casey did not seem bothered as he shed his blood-spattered rags, though he did keep glancing at Raphael, an eyebrow raised.

Raph paid him little mind, and instead focused on keeping the blush from his cheeks as he did what he was told and removed his loincloth.

The fucker stood watching the whole time, the Tegu’s still giggling and whispering to one another as Raphael threw the cloth aside. The fucking perverts.

He stood as tall as he could, once again puffing himself up and boldly met the other turtle’s stare. For half a second he felt like growling, his tail twitching as his hands balled into fists; but the moment Leonardo’s gaze began to wander, those ice blue eyes curiously drifting down Raphael’s form, the fight he’d felt vanished.

An awkward shyness he’d never felt before took its place and without realizing he was doing it, he sank to his knees, his tail tucking away as he spun around and sat as commanded.

He felt the other turtle kneel down behind him, and his heart began to quicken.

_‘What the hell is wrong me?’_ He thought.

He touched his pulse, feeling it race and took a steadying breath when another thought crept in. _‘Does he have a tail?’_

_‘Wha- no. Why am I thinking about his tail?'_ he found himself thinking, and he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, when an even darker thought crept in, _‘what kind of cock does he have? Is it big?’_

His eyes widened and his heart all but stopped. _‘Why the fuck am I thinking about his dick!?’_

Cursing the Gods for putting him in such a position he closed his eyes and focused on anything other than the turtle behind him, when he felt a gentle touch against his shell.

His eyes snapped open, one of them twitching as the touch lingered for a moment, then trailed down painfully slow, until he heard a soft, hu, from behind him.

“You truly are as old as you say.” Leonardo murmured, “And here I thought you were lying. You are just a stunted little thing, aren’t you?”

Casey’s head jerked up mid scrape of the tool down his battered chest, “I knew it, you are supposed to be bigger!” 

If looks could kill, then his brother would have dropped dead right there in the water. 

“Casey,” Raphael growled through clenched teeth, “don’t make me drown you.”

To his relief he felt the larger turtle stand, his senses oddly in tune with him, and could sense as he stepped away from the water. 

Inwardly sighing in relief, Raphael scrubbed at his hands with the bathing tool, hoping he was using it right, only to feel Casey lean in. 

"You use it like this," Casey whispered, and Raphael glanced at him, finding him wetting his skin, then using the long tool to scrape the muck off.

"Thank's," he murmured, and he mimicked the human, testing it on his arm. Sure enough, it worked.

“Dude, you ok?” he heard Casey whisper.

Raphael nodded, splashing his face with some water. “Yeah, why?”

“Well,” his brother looked back at what he could only assume was Leonardo before leaning in again and whispering, “One minute you’re growling and the next you’re blushing like a woman.”

Raphael stiffened. “Casey…” he warned, but Casey either didn’t hear the warning or didn’t care.

“Is it because he’s a turtle?” he asked, “I mean, I always thought people were teasing when they said you’d be different around other turtles but-“

Whipping around, Raphael met Casey’s good blue eye and held the tool out like it were a weapon. “One more word,” he breathed praying he’d listen, “and I WILL kill you.”

More giggling sounded from the tegu’s who had no doubt overheard them.

“Poor thing.” one of them laughed, “Let me guess, this is your first time around one of your own kind?” 

“Turtles are so funny.” The other added, “Look how he flusters at the sight. Leonardo’s new toy is a feisty little thing.”

Raphael growled, refusing to meet any of their gazes and sank as far into the water as it would allow.

“Fuck. Off.”

They laughed, and it was everything he could do not to chuck the tool in his hand at their heads. 

He continued to wash, taking care to clean the caked shit and blood from his scales and ignored the curious and partially concerned glances that Casey kept giving him. For in truth, this was the first time he’d been this close to a turtle like himself, and he was struggling to understand the swelling feelings within him.

One moment he wanted to fight him, the next he wanted to-

His cheeks burned even redder and he splashed himself with more water. 

The only turtles he could remember ever being around were his parents, so poor they sold him into slavery just to see him fed. 

He’d been only five then, and they’d barely taught him how to properly speak, let alone how to act around those of his own kind. 

After them, the closest thing to a parental figure he ever had, was, well, a seven-year-old human who grabbed his hand and whispered, _‘run.’_ And like hell if he was about to ask Casey why he, in a matter of moments, couldn’t decide if he wanted to fight, or fuck…

He splashed some more water in his face, trying to calm the heat in his cheeks.

Shit. 

His human brother had been right. Things really had gone from bad, to worse, to shit fucked in a matter of hours.


	3. Chapter 3

Leonardo’s eyes were like ice blue embers, ones that burned into Raphael as he bathed.

They followed his every move, every brush of his scales, and every shift that Raphael made while in the water.

He didn’t need to look at him to know they were on him, for he could feel them, like ghostly fingers creeping across his skin. 

It both pissed him off and turned him on for reasons he was still struggling to understand… and maybe accept.

Thankfully, it got a bit easier to deal with once he had fresh clothes on. It was no more than a fabric subligaria, but at least it was enough to cover his backside and keep the pervert from staring at it.

To his relief the other turtle did not put him or Casey back in chains once they were cleaned up and Casey’s hair was brushed, nor did he hoist Raphael back into the air. He simply told them not to leave his side, then walked them through the ludus to the Medicus. 

At first, it had been a relief not to be grabbed by the jerk and toated around like a child again, but as he walked on his own two feet beside the massive turtle he realized a very sobering fact. That the constant use of the words _stunted_ , and _scrawny_ may not have been too far off. For his head barely passed Leonardo’s elbow. A fact that Casey was kind enough to point out by using his hand to measure. Earning his brother, a swift cuff to the head. 

Casey laughed it off and the pair playfully shoved at one another as they followed Leonardo to the Medicus. 

Thankfully the walk was uneventful. The other gladiators didn't bother them, and Ajal was nowhere to be seen.

When they arrived, Leo ordered them to sit on wooden benches where they waited until a scrawny tan-skinned man with barely a tooth in his head, arrived to inspect them. 

He appeared young, his hair scraggly and black, with dark brown eyes and calloused hands that immediately gripped hold of Casey’s face.

“How’d you get injured?” The human asked, his voice gravely despite his young appearance.

He leaned in, his nose wrinkling as he inspected Casey’s swollen eye. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Raph noticed his companion tense, his hands itching to ball into fists, but refrained.

“Slave hunters,” Raphael answered for him.

Oblivious to his patient's growing tension, the medicus hummed thoughtfully and turned Casey’s head the other way to inspect a cut just above his brow.

“So, you were runners. For how many days?”

“Days?” Raph snickered, and this time it was Casey who answered.

“Try years.”

The medicus leaned back, an eyebrow raised, “Years?” he repeated, “Fucking liar. You're impressing no one boy. Now speak truth.”

Casey tensed and ripped his chin from the medicus grip, “Fourteen years.” He all but growled. “That’s how long we were _free._ ”

The medicus however was not impressed, nor did he seem to believe him. 

“You’d be sentenced to death if you were, you stupid fuck.” he snapped and then looked over Raphael's head to Leonardo. "How long?"

The callus way he spoke made Raphael’s temper twitch right along with Casey's. 

“If the dog that had been set on us been smarter, then we would’ve been.” Raph snapped, “He speaks truth, we were on the run for fourteen years.”

The medicus snorted and shook his head. He never once turned to acknowledge Raphael, and instead grabbed Casey’s chin again. 

“Show me your teeth.” He ordered, and Casey practically bared them at him. “What do they call you, and how old” 

“My name is Casey. I’m twenty-one.” Casey answered.

The medicus nodded, then glanced at Raphael. “And you?”

“Raphael. I’m nineteen.” 

Like all the others before him, the human jerked in surprise and snapped, “Lies. Show me your shell. I'll count its rings and find the truth myself.”

Raphael however just glared at him, about done with his pissy attitude. “Fuck you…” he spat.

He had no intention of cooperating when a three-fingered hand grabbed his neck and gave him no choice. 

“Hey!” Raph snapped as he was jerked over and forced still, aware of Leonardo now right beside him as the medicus bent over his shell and began to count the rings on one of his scutes.

“Do as your told.” He heard Leo warn and Raph grumbled, trying to struggle only a little until he felt the grip tighten in warning.

As much as he hated it, he stayed still and kept quiet, unwilling to test the patience of the turtle who held him by the neck.

 _'Fuck this asshole...'_ he thought, his jaw working side to side, _'He thinks he's so tough because he can bend me over and hold me still whenever he wants to. Well fuck him...'_ Only to pause, his eyes widening and cheeks reddening as he went over his thoughts.

 _'Wait...'_ Raph thought, and he tensed, an image of the other turtle holding him still as he pressed against him coming to mind.

"Are you done yet!?" he snapped, his face beat red, "Seriously how long does it take to count!?" 

The human grunted and to his relief, leaned away. “Thirteen years you say?” and finally, Leonardo released him. 

Raph continued to grumble, hoping no one had noticed him reddening, and heard Casey snort,

“Oh now you believe us?”

The medicus shook his head. “Him yes, you, no. The turtle should be twice the size. It's stunted and looks malnourished.” 

The healer muttered something else under his breath that Raphael didn't catch, as he crossed the little room to a bunch of shelves where small clay jars were lined. 

Raphael glared at him the whole time, refusing to look at the turtle beside him, as the human shifted through his supplies. Wishing he could hurl something at his and then Leonardo's head.

“What’s your diet been?” asked the medicus, and he pulled two jars from the shelf.

“Fish and seaweed mostly.” Said Casey, as the human shuffled back to them.

“Shellfish to.” Raph added.

The medicus grunted and stopped at Casey’s side, then once again grabbed him by the face and checked him. “What of clams and their shells?” he asked, and fuck if Casey didn’t smirk. “Turtle, did you eat them?”

Raphael simply sighed, his shoulders sagging, for he knew exactly what was about to happen, and sure enough, Casey failed to disappoint.

“Oh yeah, he loves clam.” Casey snickered, “Especially the hairy ones. He dives right into them, that’s how he found crabs…” 

Raphael met his brothers gaze with a glare that did nothing to dim the amusement in Casey’s baby blue eye. 

“I hate you…” he growled, and Casey broke into a snickering grin through the man’s fingers. 

The medicus however either did not understand the joke or didn’t care enough to react, and instead went about slathering Casey’s wounds with some sort of white salve. 

“Good. Clam shells give strength to turtle shells. It means I don’t have to worry about it rotting in places anytime soon.”

Once Casey's wounds were coated, the Medicus shifted his attention to Raphael, commenting on his skin and questioning the last time his shell shed before covering his wounds with the same mixture. After that, he finally finished and dismissed them into Leonardo’s care.

Just like before they followed Leo back through the ludus, Casey complaining the whole time about how the Medicus's mouth smelled like shit, and found their way back to the walled-in courtyard where men and mutants still trained. 

Wooden swords clashed against shields, blunted spears jabbed, and men dodged while mutants pretended to slash at them.

Every single one of them was built of solid muscle, clothed in padded cloth and armor as they fought one another in mock battles. 

“This is where you’ll train.” Said Leo, pausing just inside the archway that led out to where the men were all training.

At first Raph didn't notice him pause and kept walking, only for the larger turtle's arm to whip out and stop him, then gently push him back beside Casey.

Raphael shoved the hand away and quickly looked up at Leonardo, “Wha- why?” he began, when Leo motioned for quiet.

“Because" he murmured, "were going to wait for him to notice,” 

All his answer did was raise more questions, and Raphael found himself looking to Casey to check if he'd missed something.

The black-haired boy however looked just as confused and was watching Leonardo with an eyebrow raised, “Wait, for who to notice what?” he asked, only for the answer to be given in the form of a flash of color and whirl of green. 

Raph let out a yelp and stumbled backward right into Casey, sending them crashing to the ground, as jaws and claws flew around the door.

He scrambled back, his heart in his throat, recognizing Ajal, only to freeze as he realized the turtle mutant was not coming any closer. 

It took him a moment, but he quickly realized why.

Leonardo had somehow moved without Raph realizing and caught the beast by its throat mid lunge.

The feathery turtle mutant looked just as stunned as Raphael, his jaw still open and claws still brandished as he choked in Leonardo’s grip. 

Without a word the much larger turtle lifted the feathered mutant up until his feet barely touched the ground.

“This is your only warning Ajal.” Leonardo growled, “Make an attempt again and I’ll pop your head clean off your shoulders, like a cork from its bottle.”

Impressive muscles bulged as Leo’s arm flexed back, winding up like a spring before he launched the other turtle effortlessly into the air.

The gladiators who had been training scrambled out of the way right before Ajal smashed headfirst into the sand amongst them.

A warning beep sounded and Raph tensed on reflex, waiting to be shocked, only to realize that the sound hadn’t come from his collar, but Leonardo’s.

“Leonardo.” Called Maximus from somewhere. 

It was a warning, that much was clear, one that Leonardo barely acknowledged.

The blue marked turtle gave a glance out the archway, that was all, before turning back to Raphael and Casey. 

“Come.” 

Still, in a heap on the floor, Raph and Casey looked at one another and then hesitantly returned to their feet.

“Holy shit, did you see that?” Casey whispered as they followed after Leo, and Raph nodded.

“Yeah, I did. He caught him with one hand and then threw him like a pebble.”

“No, not that.” Hissed Casey, “Did you see how quickly everyone reacted?”

Raph raised an eye ridge as they walked, and found Casey watching the back of Leo’s scared-up shell almost cautiously.

“They froze.” He explained, “The moment they realized what Leo was doing, even the guy with the commander. Then when Leo had Ajal by the throat, a few of them backed up. Like they were afraid.”

As Casey spoke, Raph looked out at the men, a few of them now helping a bleeding Ajal back to his feet, while the others returned to training. Though as Raph watched he realized that the men and mutants were moving, shifting as Leo walked, always keeping him in their line of view.

“What kind of psycho have our lives been entrusted to?” murmured Casey, and Raph shrugged.

“Hopefully one that’ll keep us alive?”

They followed Leonardo around the walls of the courtyard and stopped at a room with an iron gate that held what looked like an assortment of wood and iron weapons with the more dangerous ones locked in chains. 

There was a guard inside, his hand resting on his sword as though that alone would somehow stop the turtle from raging through him if he so chose. 

“Did the Master choose their weapons?” Leo asked, and the human shook his head. “Then we’ll start with swords.”

As if given a command, the guard pulled three wooden swords from a shelf and handed them to Leo.

“Wait, now?” asked Casey. “Shouldn’t we, you know, rest and recover and train at our best or something?”

A few of the men around them snickered, as did the guard. Leo however did not. Instead, he spun and kicked, nailing Casey square in the chest, and sent him crashing to the sand.

Raphael dropped his sword and lunged after his friend on instinct.

“Dude!” he snapped, glaring at Leo, ready to rip into the high and mighty turtle when a foot connected with his plastron and pinned him to the ground beside Casey.

The two-toed foot remained firmly in place, and Raph grabbed it with a snarl. “You fucking asshole!” 

Leonardo loomed over them; his grey-blue eyes narrowed and hard to read.

“Rule number one.” He growled, “Never drop your weapon. Rule number two, never drop your guard.”

“Is there a rule about not being a dick!?” Raphael grunted, his teeth bared, “Because I got news for you, you’re being one!”

Leonardo’s gaze locked with Raphael’s, his eyes as hard to read as before. “Rule number three.” He growled, “Trust no one. Not even your friend or you’ll find yourself with a knife in your back.”

Finally, the asshole removed his foot, and Raphael sprang up. Holding Leo’s gaze, his nose wrinkling as he grabbed for the sword he’d abandoned.

“Speaking from experience or something?” he heard Casey grunt, and out of the corner of his eye, he found Casey clutching his ribs as he rolled to his knees and pulled himself to his feet. 

Realizing he was injured, Raphael shifted between his battered brother and the asshole turtle, knowing his plastron could take a kick better than human ribs. 

“Yes.” Leo practically growled, his gaze growing cold, “It’s the reason why I wear this collar, and why I warn you not to trust a soul. Now, learn to watch your tongue. Maximus is Docturi, the trainer of this ludus, and will not tolerate your attitude and be as forgiving as I am. He will shock you,” he gestured to Raphael, “and he will whip you," then to Casey, "until he sees bone.”

Still clutching his ribs Casey grunted, “If he’s the guy in charge, then why does everyone seem more afraid of you?”

“Because they should be.” Said Leo darkly, and those cold blue eyes of his found Raphael’s.

They burned into him again, and for some reason, that whisper, those words, sent a shiver down Raphael's spine all the way to his tail. 

_‘Did…did that just turn me on?’_ he thought, his cheeks heating up again as Leo turned away, _‘Shit. I- I think it did…’_

“Let’s go.” Said Leo, motioning for them to follow again “Given your injuries, today will be a lesson on holding your weapon properly, and how to strike.”

Leonardo kept walking, but Raphael didn’t move. Instead, he stood there like an idiot, staring after the other turtle with his face heating up. 

A gentle nudge to his carapace was what got his feet moving, his buddy appearing beside him with his hand still on his ribs. 

To his relief, Casey didn’t crack a joke or ask him why he’d paused this time. Instead, he stuck to his side and kept his unswollen eye fixed warily on Leo as they followed the turtle over to an empty corner where a couple of chewed up wooden posts stood.

When they reached them, Leo gestured to the wood. “Choose your opponent. Then take a stance to defeat it.”

Casey made a face. “Stance? But you haven’t shown us anything yet.” 

The muscular turtle nodded and folded his hands behind his back with his sword. “The stance you are most comfortable with when attacking will tell me everything I need to know in order to train you properly.”

Conscience of how red his cheeks still were, Raphael glanced at Casey but refused to look at Leo.

Instead, he snapped his gaze on the post before him and balled one hand into a fist while brandishing his sword in the other.

His human brother did the same; one hand balled into a fist with his sword raised and ready for stabbing.

As they moved so did Leonardo. He began to circle them, looking them up and down. “You’re both aggressive.” He observed, “Yet prepared to defend or flee depending on how the fight turns. You’re both cautious, the human more so.”

Raphael glanced curiously at his hands and feet, trying to understand exactly how the asshole had gathered all of that from a stance. 

“You turtle, are the most likely to attack first, and you rely heavily on your shell.”

Even though he was not looking at him, Raphael was still conscious of exactly where Leonardo was, and he focused on him. Listening to the soft footfalls as he circled.

“You got all that from the way we're standing?” asked Casey, and Raphael felt Leo pause just behind them.

“You, Casey was it?” He must’ve nodded because Leonardo continued, “Stand more upright in your stance, your focus is sweeping instead of centered like the turtles. You, carry your weight here, and here, giving you the opportunity to either fight or flee. As for you.”

He felt Leo lean in, the other turtle’s hand appearing on his shoulder. 

“You keep your arms in closer than your friend,” he explained, and his hand began to move, sliding painfully slow down Raphael’s arm. 

It sent tingles through him as it slipped across his skin, and Raph had to fight not to shiver at the touch. 

“You’re ready to fight, flee, or defend,” Leo explained, and Raphael focused on the post, trying to block his touch and voice from his mind, “your focus is forward on your enemy, while at the same time it’s on your friend. Which you give away, here.”

Fingers slid against his thigh and Raphael nearly jumped out of his shell, his face turning redder than it ever had before.

“Your weight is in this leg, yet your foot is shifted, giving away your likeliness to leap to his defense if endangered. Like you did only a moment ago.”

This time he felt Leonardo lean closer and froze, his eyes widening as he felt the other turtle’s breath hot against his neck. 

“Remind me of your name?” Leo breathed, and this time Raphael could not stop the shiver that ran through him. 

His throat constricted and for a moment he was unable to form words.

“It’s…It’s Raphael.” 

Leo hummed thoughtfully and stood back up, though his touch lingered, a fact that Raphael was painfully aware of. 

“Alright then, Raphael. Casey. The good news, you have smarts and enough experience from being wary all your life, that you may survive your first fight.”

“And the bad news?” He heard Casey ask, and Leo chuckled, his hand finally slipping away.

“I’m the one who’s going to teach you how to do it. Now, let's start with you."

Raphael had just begun to breathe a sigh in relief when a feather-light touch slipped down his center front, making him gasp.

He froze, the hand unmoving, and gasped even louder at the sound he'd just made. His free hand slapped over his mouth, wishing he could somehow take the sound back. But it was too late and his face burned redder than a Romans cape as he stared in horror at the ground.

"Yeah, how about you start with me..." he heard Casey grunt, and he refused to look at him.

The deep chuckle that followed did nothing for the color of Raphael's face. 

"Very well." Leo chuckled, "Let's hope you don't _startle_ as easily as your friend here."

To Raphael's horror, it didn't end there. Leonardo worked them over for hours. 

Stand this way, raise your sword higher, strike here not there. Your foot's in the wrong place. Move it here. He was the jerky mentor Raphael never wanted or asked for.

To make matters worse he was always touching, feeling, brushing, stroking; his callused hands lingering longer than needed as Leo moved Raphael’s limbs into the proper stance until Raph’s face was as red as the marks on his own two eyelids. 

He could even single out the asshole's scent now, a mix of sand, leather, and sweat that carried with it hints of something that made his blood race and tail twitch.

Whatever it was it made it hard for him to concentrate which meant slipping up, which meant more touching, which made it even harder to pay attention. 

At one point Raphael was sure he saw Leo smirk as his hand slid along Raph’s collarbone and pulled yet another soft gasp from him as he ‘fixed’, Raph’s posture, and shell did that piss him off. 

Leonardo had to of known exactly what he was doing. The fucker…

By nightfall, Raph was a flustered angry mess, torn between wanting to lunge at and punch the blue marked turtle in the face, and wanting to grab hold of him and fuck him.

It was beyond frustrating. So much so that for the briefest moments Raphael didn’t know what to do with his own body. 

Needless to say, he was more than relieved when Leonardo finally called it quits for the night and led them to their very own cell, and had a guard lock them in.

“Watch your key.” Leo warned as Raphael found a spot by the wall and plopped down with a groan, “Ajal isn’t too bright but he is determined. He may try to steal it to get to them.”

“Oh, that’s encouraging.” Grunted Casey as he limped over and sat beside Raph.

Leonardo turned at Casey's snark and fixed both of them with a stare. “Good," he said almost gently, "then you’ll find this encouraging as well. Sleep in the middle of your cell and stay away from the bars or Ajal may reach through and disembowel you in your sleep. Enjoy.”

Raphael looked away and tucked his knees into his chest, only looking up again when he heard the faint footfalls of retreat, and watched Leonardo walk away.

Once he was gone, a quiet moment passed. One where neither said a word. 

“Well.” Said Casey, finally breaking the silence, “This suck.”

Raph grunted in agreement. 

“We could be dead though,” Casey added, and once more Raph grunted, but did not say anything more.

His mind was swimming. Memories of Leonardo hurling Ajal one handed came to mind, followed next by the gentle caress of fingers that teased across his skin-

_“Remind me of your name?”_

-and that breathy whisper in his ear slit. 

He let out a shaky sigh and closed his eyes, still able to feel Leo’s breath hot on his neck, his fingers brushing across his collarbone and his touch against his skin. Only to feel a prickling up his spine as he sensed he was being watched.

Slowly he turned, finding Casey still beside him, his one good eye watching him with an eyebrow raised.

“So…” said Casey flatly, “You wana talk about it?”

Raphael’s eyes narrowed. “About what?” 

Casey shrugged at him and leaned back against the wall. “Ok, fine be that way. I just thought you were into women, that’s all.”

Raphael opened his mouth, about to snarl something cheeky, when he sighed and promptly gave up. For once, too exhausted to fight.

“So did I…” he groaned and thunked his head on his knees. 

“Ah.” Casey murmured, and he felt his buddy lean against him, “This really has been a bit of a rough day, hu?” 

He sighed and was quiet for a moment, then said, “It’s alright. Chicks are complicated as fuck. You are better off liking dudes.”

Unable to help it, Raph let out a snort, and he found himself looking up, smirking almost shyly at a friend who looked more sympathetic than anything else.

“I just wish there was a different turtle interested in you.” Casey continued, “Anyone but him.”

Raphael paused then squinted in confusion, “Wait, wha-“ only to register what Casey said. 

“Interested?” he repeated, his cheeks flushing all over again, “You think he’s interested in me?“ 

Casey however ignored him. “I don’t trust him.” He continued, “The way everyone moves around him. They act like he’s a ticking time bomb. That’s not safe, and it doesn’t bode well for us either.”

“Did you not see how he threw Ajal?" asked Raph, “That’s probably why they’re afraid of him. The guys built like a tank.”

“Or…” a new voice cooed, and Raphael whipped towards the sound, “They fear him for another reason.”

A reptilian nose was pressed against the bars in a cage of its own, a grin across its lips as it watched Raph and Casey.

It was Alb, the white and black striped Tegu, laying on the floor of the cell beside him with his black scaled lover curled up beside him.

“Oh look, it’s the fuck twins.” Grunted Raphael. 

Alb giggled as his lover Negru leaned over him and rested his chin atop his head. “Oh look, Leonardo’s toy can bark.”

“Like a small yappy dog.” Alb laughed, and Raphael scowled.

He’d just begun to contemplate the pros and cons of threatening the pair, when he felt Casey lean forward. 

“Hey, you two. You sound like you know something that we should about Leonardo. Wana share what that is?”

Both Tegu’s grinned at him, revealing pointed teeth.

“One finally asks.” Alb chuckled, “Though not the one who should.”

“He’s to overwhelmed with being around another turtle.” Laughed Negru, “His wits have gone straight to his cock instead of where they should be.”

Raphael glowered at them. “Fuck you.” he growled, only for Negru to look him dead in the eye and flick his tongue out between the bars, 

“Bend over young turtle and I will.”

Having had about enough of their teasing, Raphael started to stand, ready to grab the lizards tongue and rip it through the bars, when Casey grabbed him and pulled him back to the floor.

“You were saying?” 

Raph glared at his companion, but Casey didn’t seem to care for his gaze remained focused on the tegus.

The lizards both grinned at him, sending Raphael’s temper flaring and his hands balling into fists.

“Turtles are such fickle creatures.” Sighed Alb, “You can’t even whore one out. They refuse to wet unless touched by one of their own.”

Negru smirked and rumbled, “You should’ve seen Leonardo when he caught a whiff of your scent. His head twisted like an owl’s.”

“Yeah yeah,” interrupted Casey, “turtles are weird and only fuck each other, we know. Get to the point about why we should be worried.” 

“So impatient this one.” Murmured Alb. “You’d think he’d be more relaxed after spending the day not dying.”

Negru shrugged, “Perhaps he was hit harder in the head than first thought?” 

Trying his best not to lunge at them, Raphael grumbled under his breath and glared at the floor, while Casey snorted, his friend's temper just as short as his at times.

“Fine, keep it to yourself then.” Casey snapped, and he leaned back against the wall with a huff, “Fucking tegu’s…” 

Raphael couldn’t agree more and whispered, “You should’ve let me grab its tongue when I had the chance.” When Alb said something that made them both freeze.

“He’s a weapon. A fierce warrior from a land far from here.”

He looked back at the lizards and found them no longer smiling but watching him and Casey carefully. 

“I know truly little as to who and why, only that Leonardo was betrayed by one as close as brother. It is why he wears a collar, and why his entire bale and family were massacred before his very eyes.”

Negru lowered his muzzle, his tongue flicking again between the bars, “Somehow he was brought to the arena and thrown before the Arena Master. He’d caused offense, that much we gathered as he was sentenced to die. Only for Leonardo to refuse.”

“To what, fight?” asked Casey.

But the black tegu shook his head. 

“To die.” 

“He fought until blood soaked every inch of sand,” continued Alb, “No matter how many poured into the arena, he refused to fall. I could see it. His hatred, his pain... All of it flowing out with every swing of fist and sword. At one point he ripped a man’s head clean from his shoulders with nothing more than his bare hands.”

Raphael’s eyes widened. “You’re making that up.” he breathed, but Alb shook his head.

“I was there. I saw it all. Our Master refused to leave until paid, and so we waited. And waited. Until the sun sank, and the moon rose. I fell asleep, and as dawn came I expected to find him collapsed, dead and decapitated. But he was still standing. The arena Master was furious, and so he set Leonardo’s collar ablaze. Yet still, Leo failed to fall. He killed more men than I have ever seen, their bodies piling up like mountains around him.”

As the white and black striped tegu spoke, Raphael listened, enthralled by the tale, and could picture it clearly; The giant turtle standing in the center of an arena, covered in blood, his hands brandished like claws.

“He snarled for the blood of the one who’d killed his bale even through the pain the collar brings." continued Alb, "Until the Arena Master ran out of men and began sending guards. Their heads rolled even quicker. Arrows were useless as he used bodies as shields, spears failed, nets were ripped apart. Nothing could contain or kill him. So, our master, being the clever fucking idiot that he is, made an offer to the Arena Master. In lieu of losing more men and expensive guards to a turtle who refused to fall, he asked if he could have him as a gladiator.”

“Wait… seriously?” 

Raphael nearly jumped out of his shell as Casey spoke, having been so wrapped up in the Tegu’s story that he almost forgot his brother was listening beside him. 

Alb nodded, “The Arena Master agreed,” he continued, “for with his refusal to die, Leonardo won the crowd's favor. Somehow managing to take his life after that would’ve seen the crowd turn to riot. The issue, however, became getting Leo out of the arena without him killing anyone else.”

“So how’d he do it?” Raph found himself asking, “I mean he’s here, he managed it. But how?” 

“By sending me into the arena.” Said Alb ever so softly, “And if I’m honest, I did not think I’d live as I climbed over bodies to reach a blood-soaked raging mutant who had become a monster of the sands. I could smell his tears. Feel his rage burning through the air, and taste his pain, raw like an open wound on my tongue. I didn’t attack, and neither did he. _‘Why do you fight?’_ I asked. And he told me. _‘I was betrayed.’_ He said, _‘forced to watch the slaughter of my family, my bale. I won’t die, not until I’ve ripped that traitors head off with my own two hands.’”_

“He just told you all of that?” asked Casey, “Why didn’t he attack you? Hell, how did he even get to the arena if he was such a monster?”

“I told you, I don’t know.” Said Alb truthfully. “All I know is that Leonardo had no interest in fighting someone who wasn’t going to attack him first. Giving me the opportunity to speak, and thankfully he listened.” 

“What did you say?” Casey asked, and Raphael could hear a hint of aw in his voice.

“The truth.” Said Alb simply. “That if he wished to clove the head of the bastard who betrayed him in two, that he should walk freely by my side and pledge loyalty to my Master. In return, he’d be allowed to fight in the arena and one day win his freedom and the ability to hunt down whoever he pleased.”

Raphael blinked. “Wait, freedom?” right as Casey leaned forward and asked the same question.

“We can win our freedom?” 

Both Alb and Negru nodded.

“And that was the only reason why Leonardo walked out beside me.” Said Alb, “And why he fights for our Master without pause or complaint. But also, why everyone here is wary of Leonardo. Known by the crowd, as Moarte.”

Raphael stared at them, trying to gauge just how truthful they were being. Tales of the arena were always inflated for dramatic purpose, yet still, with how easily Leonardo had launched Ajal, it was not hard for him to believe…

“Mind what he says.” Negru warned.

“Do as commanded.” Added Alb.

“And you may survive. Cross him, or the Master, and you won't.”

**Author's Note:**

> (This fic will be continued at our leisure. We are posting it so that we have some motivation to keep writing on something/anything while we fight through writer's block with our other fics)


End file.
